


Through Bonds of Love

by WinterWolfWitch



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Long, Mabari, Mabari Puppies, Slow Build, mabari pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 17:11:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21001238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterWolfWitch/pseuds/WinterWolfWitch
Summary: Ongoing work on the tale of my Champion, Shanna Hawke, mage and all-round unwilling and hopeless hero. This story will be developing as I go along, but have tagged it as explicit, because, well... knowing me there will be lots of smut and swearing. This will be most likely not be updated frequently. This story is (mostly) told through the eyes of Blythe, Hawke's trusted Mabari, but will have shifting POVs as I go along.





	Through Bonds of Love

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is entirely PG (so far, so good) and introduces another kind of hero.

# 

**Prologue**

With the first glimmer of awareness came the scent of warm bodies; her mother’s touch and the unique patterns that she came to recognise as her brothers and sisters. Within hours, she was able to recognise each of them by touch and the individually-unique image of swirling colours that accompanied the smells. It shone as bright as anything she had ever experienced and even though she had yet to open her eyes, she could see her family in her mind clearly. 

Her mother’s pattern was bold and confident, pressing upon all her children her protection, love and reassurance as she welcomed each of them into the world. Six they were; four boys and two girls. She herself was the last to arrive, shivering in the sudden rush of cold before her mother’s warm tongue firmly washed away the last of the afterbirth with tender care. 

With awareness came hunger and she blindly honed in on the source that hinted at sustenance. To her frustration, her brothers and sisters had the same target in mind and she protested soundlessly as they all pushed and squirmed for the best position. That first mouthful of warm milk was worth the effort it took to get to it and soon she was suckling contently. 

Her early life soon became a succession of sleeping, eating and rolling around in between those things. With the help of her mother’s gentle administrations, they stayed clean, happy and fed; a blissful existence of food and naps. 

On the next day, her small world was suddenly filled with a new pattern, the colours as unfamiliar as the scents it carried with it. It towered over them and she flattened herself to the floor, trying to appear as small as possible. Her sister’s presence vanished from her side so abruptly that she let out a worried squeal, but Mother did not seem worried, her scent pulsing steadily with a familiar cadence that was calming and reassuring. When she suddenly found her own body scooped up and held by some sort of spindly tentacles, she cried out in panic, calling to her mother for aid. 

Mother came closer, her nose reaching up to press wetly against her exposed belly, but with it came an image of a strange two-legged creature. No fur to speak of but for a thin layer covering its head and strangely short muzzle. She understood then through her mother that it was not tentacles, but strangely formed paws that held her, turning her this way and that. She protested, tugging her short, stubby tail to show her submission, which seemed to elicit a strange rumbling noise from the two-leg. The paws pressed her close to the massive body, the nimble appendages stroking and scratching behind her ears. Her whole body instantly relaxed with an intense feeling of pleasure and she squirmed to get more of it. Its paws may be deformed, but the things it could do with them were wonderful! 

Her mind’s eye was almost blinded when the room was suddenly filled with three more of the two-leg patterns, all of them glowing as fiercely as the first.  
Only one of them stood out from the other three: a younger male, that did not seem to carry the bright blues and whites she had come to associate with Mother’s two-leg. 

Through her mother’s translation, she was made to understand that the two-leg had a family of his own and these were his pups. They too fussed over her and her brothers and sister, and she began to understand why her Mother was so fond of these creatures though they were clearly not as they were. 

***********

Her earliest days soon faded into distant memory and time passed quickly. One day she woke up to realise she could open her eyes and see images like the ones Mother showed her, though they were fuzzy and blurred. She could now match the coloured scent patterns with the outlines of her brothers and sisters and use her eyes as well as her nose to unerringly find her next meal. Next came the sounds, her tiny floppy ears twitching as these new sensations were added to her repertoire of senses. 

Already she was stronger, although her legs were still somewhat wobbly as they learned to carry her and with the sounds came the ability to express herself.  
She growled and yipped to claim her spot in the pack and although she was smaller than her brothers and even her sister, she soon discovered she was also faster. Using this to her advantage, she often managed to claim the prize whilst her stronger siblings were still wrestling with each other. Her mind burned bright with curiosity as she explored the limits of their den, savouring each new smell and sensation. Her brothers seemed more interested in just cajoling the next meal out of Mother, or wrestling each other to see who was the strongest. Her sister’s favourite activity was sleep and snuggling up to Mother for warmth and comfort. Out of all of them, her big sister definitely had the sweetest disposition, as she even let her smallest sibling bully her good-naturedly. 

The two-legs became a permanent fixture that she soon got used to. Although Mother’s bond-mate was chiefly the one that looked after them, she soon started to look forward to the young adults visiting and playing with them. 

The big one was busy cleaning the den today, strange sounds coming from his short muzzle whenever he seemed to be trying to speak. The constant yips, grunt and howls seemed to signal neither alarm or distress, but they were perplexing. Often she sat with her head tilted, trying to understand their meaning as the two-leg directed these sounds at them. 

On the best days, the two-legs brought treats: small scraps of hide she and her siblings could tug and play with, morsels of meat that tasted even better than Mother’s milk and were gone much too soon and twine balls they could pounce and worry like prey.  
Now that she could see and hear, she could sometimes catch glimpses of the mind-images the two-legs projected. They seemed disjointed, the perspective skewed to their awkward teetering position above the ground, which also lacked the depth and lustre she and her pack were capable of. It was as if they could hardly see with their eyes and noses, using their eyes to interpret their surroundings instead. They also did not seem to understand any of her attempts to communicate with them in return. 

“Why do they not speak, Mother?” 

“They do. Those sounds they make? That is how they speak to each other.” 

“But why?” she signalled back, nonplussed as to why they would choose such a crude and ineffective method. 

“Most lost the ability to mind-speak a long time ago and the rest forgot they had it. In time, you will come to understand the meaning of their grunts and squeals. Once you are bonded, this will become easier still.” 

An image of the two-leg bloomed in Mother’s mind at the mention of The Bond. She loved her two-leg dearly, or “Malcolm” as he called himself. The fact that they chose combinations of sounds to identify themselves to each other was another source of great puzzlement to her. 

“Why would you want to speak to them anyway?” her oldest brother butted in, yawning disdainfully. 

With fur almost as dark as the little bit of sky they could see through the hole in the roof during the night-time, her brother was first and foremost interested in where his next meal came from. As the biggest of her siblings, he was also quick to throw his weight about when someone dared get in the way of this pursuit. 

“We are Mabari. Soon you will understand the sacred duty entrusted upon us,” Mother admonished cryptically. 

Her brother snorted, already distracted by something he thought could be a left-over piece of leather that had not been chewed through as thoroughly as it could be. 

“I like the young male, he’s feisty,” The offhand comment surprised her, in a way, as she had not thought her brother had paid the two-legs any attention at all. 

“They call him “Carver”. Mother supplied, in between licking her paws. 

*****

“Blythe!!! Let go!” Shanna’s voice was tinged with exasperation as she tried to wrestle the garment from her hound’s jaws. Good-naturedly wagging her short tail, Blythe tightened her grip on the piece of cloth and worried it playfully. Although Shanna was doing her best to sound stern, Blythe could tell from her colour-pattern and the snippets of mental images that two-legs always seemed to radiate, that she was having fun. 

Her Bond-mate had been lying about her feelings regarding the ugly robe for weeks now, pretending to love the present she had been given for her birthday, when in truth: she hated the muted browns and reds of the all too frumpy garment with a passion. To Blythe, all these coverings the two-legs needed to keep their fragile, naked skins protected were all more or less the same, some were just more fun to ravish than others. 

She had learned much in the nine months of her young life, not in the least that the two-legged creatures had a number of strange habits where their appearances were concerned. Attuned as she was now to her bond-mate’s feelings, she simply had to remedy the situation.

It had been months since she imprinted on Shanna and she had been growing steadily since then. Where she had barely reached Shanna’s knees before, now she could easily put her paws on the woman’s shoulder. Even though she was too big for it now, she still took every opportunity to jump on Shanna’s lap. The woman didn’t fool her for a second with her protestations, she loved it as much as Blythe did. 

It had been odd at first, to be bonded and then to be named. Although she was getting better at understanding the two-leg language now, she still relied mostly on the images that accompanied their almost manic habit of making sounds. They were so loud sometimes! Mother had explained their hearing was pretty poor; in fact: everything about them seemed to be so much weaker, but she had to admit their nimble paws definitely had their uses. 

There was a sound of tearing fabric and Blythe triumphantly ran off with her section of the robe, ignoring Shanna’s dramatic wails. She could hear Shanna give chase behind her but knew the two-leg didn’t stand a chance of catching her. Dashing to a corner of the room, Blythe turned and made a play-bow, daring Shanna to try and reclaim her possession. 

Attracted by the commotion, both Satina and Cal came dashing through the open living room door and quickly converged on their smaller sibling, who was already making a run for it.  
Giving chase, they cornered her quickly and within no time, a lively game of three-way-tug ensued. Blythe watched Shanna lunge for the robe from the corner of her eye, but from the look of resignation on the blonde woman’s face, she could tell even the mage knew this was a foregone conclusion. 

She did not let it distract her for long, for already Cal had applied his superior strength to his end of the rag and was now dragging both his sisters across the floor in little increments. Digging in her claws, she returned his growl with equal measures of mock ferociousness and redoubled her efforts. She would not admit defeat so easily! 

All things considered, one had to admire the quality of the fabric, because it held out for a good two to three seconds before it disintegrated to tatters under the combined force of the three adolescent hounds. Suddenly free from the opposite force, Blythe found herself on her haunches, a tiny scrap of cloth still stuck between her teeth. She spat it out, working her tongue to remove the last of the threads that had come loose in her mouth. 

Sighing heavily, Shanna scooped down to retrieve a bigger piece from the floor, giving Cal a warning glare when he started to lunge for it. Blythe settled back in a sitting position, her face split by a huge panting dog-grin. She was rather proud of herself, despite the looks of reproach her bond-mate tried to dole out to all three of them in equal measure. 

“Mother is going to kill me,” Shanna muttered, gathering what was left of the robe together and looking at it ruefully. 

Blythe wandered over, nudging Shanna with a wet nose until she got an absent pat on the head for her troubles. Sniffing Shanna’s pockets to make sure the mage was not trying to hide any worthwhile treats, Blythe huffed a question to get her attention. 

Looking down over the slobber-covered fabric in her hand, Shanna’s green eyes focused on her. 

“What? Don’t you think you’ve caused enough trouble for one day?” 

Realising the fun was over, Satina and Cal had already left the way they came, no doubt to also remind the twins that it was coming up on lunch-time.  
Sitting down and tilting her head in a way she full well knew never failed to soften her bond-mate up, Blythe huffed again, this time with encouragement. She had had to come up with a whole new repertoire of sounds and expressions to communicate with the two-legs, who seemed far less inclined to find a common language between them than the Mabari were. It was almost as if they thought dogs didn’t talk to each other. 

Of course, no other dogs were quite like the noble Mabari, she had found that out fast enough. The first time she’d tried to speak to one of the village strays, she’d gotten back nothing but a confused whine and some jumbled impressions, after which the cur had bolted as if its tail was on fire. Mother explained the lesser breeds largely went by scent and sound, aided by some body signals to communicate with their pack and their two-legs. They did not bond, as Mabari did, and thus never developed a deeper level of understanding. 

“Mother, why do we Bond?” She’d asked, not long after she’d first met their two-legs. 

She now knew there were five in Malcolm's pack in total, although Shanna’s mother seemed content to leave her husband and children to care for them. Malcolm had encouraged Leandra to choose a pup for herself, but Leandra had shaken her head and declined, saying she had enough troublemakers to look after already. 

“We Bond so we may be more effective in our sacred duty. Through imprinting, we gain strength and knowledge and a place beside those would who would rally against darkness.” 

Even though her young mind lacked the experience for true understanding, Mother’s words had resonated deeply with something in her soul. Some ancient part of her that stirred at those words and made her want to howl in triumph. She looked at the two-legs in a whole different light after that. 

Their scent-sight signatures were similar when compared to each other, yet vastly different from her own family. At first, she thought it was the females of their species whose patterns subtly differed, as the younger women were very much alike, but then she realised it was Leandra who most resembled her son, Carver, whereas Malcolm was almost identical to his daughters. Or, more accurately: the girls were brighter, lighter copies of their father. 

This was when she learned the effect magic had on two-leg patterns, the ethereal energy mixing with the natural patterns to form new colours and scents. She learned the two-leg sound for “mage” and that it apparently was something they hid from other two-legs. They truly had to be blind if they could not see what was before them clear as day. 

Following closely on Shanna’s heels, Blythe followed her bond-mate to the kitchen and watched her throw the last of the robe in the basket designated for the midden heap outside. The basket she and her siblings had quite adamantly been told not to touch again. Seeing as it came with the threat of a raised broom from Leandra, Blythe had decided to take the command to heart. For now. 

“It’s funny how no one ever mentions the downside of owning a dog who is smart enough to open drawers,” Shanna muttered wryly, hands on hips. 

Feeling they were getting off-topic a little too much, Blythe joined her brother and sister in sitting in front of the pot with the left-overs, staring at it as pointedly as they did.  
Shanna looked over and snorted, shaking her head. 

“Unbelievable.” 

Smiling despite her best effort to look stern, Shanna quickly divided the scraps amongst the young Mabari and they in turn provided their own flavour of magic by making them disappear before they hit the floor. 

********


End file.
